Conservationists honored at MASWCD convention

By Jeanette Serfling
Administrative Assistant

Andrea and Jeff Eickhoff and Ruth and Norman Eickhoff were honored at a luncheon at the Minnesota Association of Soil and Water Conservation District’s (MASWCD) Annual Convention, which was held in December in Bloomington where Outstanding Conservationists from across Minnesota were recognized and competed for the title of Minnesota’s Outstanding Conservationist.

Jeff and Norman Eickhoff own approximately 750 acres of land, of which just under 600 acres is cropland that is all minimum-till using a disk chisel on corn stalks in the fall and a soil finisher in the spring on all fields. On the bean ground, liquid manure from their wean-to-finish hog barn is incorporated after harvest in the fall. Nutrients from the manure are maximized using a nutrient management plan, which is updated annually with the SWCD.

Installed to treat runoff from the open lot by their barn was a filter strip and picket fence to control runoff from the feedlot and divert it away from a sinkhole. This was the first of its kind installed in Fillmore County with cost share and has been visited by ag and conservation groups as an educational site.

The Eickhoffs have installed many terraces and waterways, both with cost share and on their own. If a waterway needs repair, they shape it and plant their crop perpendicular to it. After the crop is up and sprayed, they seed the waterway and clip it a couple of times, which destroys the crop but helps to prevent washing and gives the grasses a chance to get established.

Jeff is very active with community organizations. He is the current president of the Fillmore County Farm Bureau, is a member of the Parent Teacher League at St. John’s School in Wykoff, and also serves on the Spring Valley Area Community Foundation. He has been a 4-H leader and on the Beef Producers Board.

The Eickhoffs’ farms have been in the family for over 140 years. Jeff and Norman are carrying on the tradition of conservation, community involvement and leadership. Jeff is maintaining the practices that Norman and others before him have installed, while adopting new practices that will sustain the farm for future generations. They set a good example for others in the community that encourages better land stewardship.

The Fillmore SWCD congratulates Jeff and Norman on their conservation efforts.